Saving Beach Access

The Federal Terrestrial Maritime Zone is the 20-meter-wide
strip of passable, solid ground beginning at the high-tide
point. Where a river empties into the sea, the 20-meter protected
zone extends 100 meters up stream.

The accountant Francisco Calvo is the director of
the Federal Zone for San Pedro Mixtepec. Among other duties,
he and his three assistants are responsible for making
regular inspections of the beaches. They check to make sure there
are no unauthorized palapas, no permanent constructions and no
evidence of turtle poaching. When they observe an infraction, like
the steel fence which was erected by the State of Oaxaca on Bacocho
Beach and Punta Colorada, they report it to the Federal Attorney
for Environmental Protection (Profepa). The fence was later
removed after many complaints to Profepa by both private citizens
and the municipal authorities.

Vivo Resorts guard denies entry to the officials of the Federal Zone.

Sr. Calvo and his men have twice been hampered in their work
by the administrators of Vivo Resorts on the Palmarito peninsula
who refuse to give them access to the beach via its private road.
Whether this road is on private property or not is a matter of contention
between the authorities of San Pedro Mixtepec and the developers
of the condominium complex. (See
¡Viva Puerto! #4). On
August 27. 2013, Viva Puerto! accompanied Sr. Calvo and his crew
on their rounds. After being stopped by the security guard at the
entrance to the private road, we parked the car and entered the
beach through the dunes and then walked around 500 meters to
the project. There we observed construction of a one-story building,
which might be in the Federal Zone. It was photographed and
put into the official report.

Marines Patrol Federal Zone at Vivo ResortsPhoto: Hunter Pendleton

The Marines also inspect the beaches. Coincidentally, they
were making their rounds at the same time as Sr. Calvo. The Marines,
who were there to protect the sea turtles, were allowed to
use the private road to access the beach.

The roads passing through the properties east of Vivo Resorts
were also closed off by gated fences.

BEACH ACCESS A PRIORITY
FOR THE BIENES COMUNALES

Saúl Cerón, president of the Communal
Land Commission of San Pedro Mixtepec

In an interview on August 29, engineer Saúl
Cerón Patiño, the president of the Communal
Land Commission (Comisariado de Bienes Comunales)
of San Pedro Mixtepec, said he was all
in favor of hotels, golf courses and other tourist
development near the beach as long as it was
done in orderly way. He characterized the current
situation as total “anarchy”, as exemplified
by Vivo Resorts having unilaterally declared its
land private property when in fact it is on communal
land. He stressed that he would not allow
the beaches bordering the communal land
of San Pedro Mixtepec to suffer the same fate
as those in Huatulco where local people have
been denied access by the owners of the hotels.

Land neighboring Vivo Resorts

One of Cerón’s goals is to work with the
municipio to build a walkway (malecón) on the
communal
land
bordering the
Federal
Zone extending from the Barranca
Onda lagoon through
Agua Dulce all the way to the
tip of the Palmarito peninsula.
There would also be roads
to connect the Coastal Highway
to the beaches.

Vivo Resorts Closed Oct. 2013

UPDATE: Vivo Resorts was closed by Profepa (the federal environmental
protection agency) at the end of September, presumably because of
problems with new construction there.